Authentic Automotive Sounds on 1950s TV: "Highway Patrol"

Hi folks -- following Ed's suggestion, I started watching episodes of "Highway Patrol" on Youtube. I watched this show when I was a child, but don't remember if I was a faithful viewer or just saw it occasionally. The music on this series is rather ominous, and Broderick Crawford's  brusque nature surely instilled a deep respect for authority. 

What Ed recently pointed out to me about this show is the excellent sound reproduction employed in terms of the automobiles featured.  Machine sounds, was a topic I previously covered in a study on Riverside Records and race car and sports car engines. Watch a few episodes and just listen! Note how these 1957 autos sway in every turn!

From Ed:

One of the things about most of the early TV that featured automobiles is that one rarely heard authentic car sounds over and beyond the roar of an engine.  But the producer of "Highway Patrol" captured the authentic sounds of cars of that era.

If one watches enough episodes you hear:

1. The" tinny" sound when car doors of that period are closed or slammed. Sometimes you can hear the doors rattle.  Just proves how today's car doors are precise, well insulated, and close like a bank vault.  

2. When doors are opened, in many episodes, one can hear the sound that the door handle makes -- much different sound than with today's cars.

3. Trunk lids slammed closed -- the way they sounded in cars of the late 50s and early 60s.

4. Crawford and other drivers in the series typically always come to a rapid stop or get-away, squealing the tires or, with stops, one can hear authentic brake squeaks.  

5. Starters grinding, sometimes for five seconds or more -- typical of many cars of the era, over against today's cars with electronics, almost an instant startup. 

6. In some episodes one can hear the whine of loose fan belts.. 

7. While not a sound, all of the cars seen in the series bounce all over the road when driven hard due to soft suspension systems of the era.  Easy to forget how poorly handling those cars were at speed and in curves prior to the acceptance of the taut "European feel" cars that came later.

8. Related, in many of the episodes when Broderick Crawford (a huge overweight man) gets in the driver's seat, his Buick seems to lean to the side a bit, also typical of cars of the era when a heavy-set person was driving.  In fact, steering often had to be compensated for a very heavy driver.  Today's suspensions are calibrated for some degree of load-leveling.

More from Ed on "Highway Patrol's" Hypocrisy -- 

On Broadrick Crawford's alcoholism:  There is one episode of "Highway Patrol" titled "Stolen Car Ring" where it's clear he has a broken nose that's still healing from an incident where, drunk while on set, he fell out of his Buick during the filming of a prior episode.  And in another episode it's clear that makeup has been applied to his forehead and cheeks to cover up bruises from another drunken fall while on set.   Of course, each episode ended with Crawford providing a 30 second "morality play" where he rails against drunk driving, speeding, and other highway safety concerns.

"Crawford's heavy drinking increased during the filming of Highway Patrol, eventually resulting in several arrests and stops for driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI), which eventually gained him a suspended driving license. While representing the California Highway Patrol as "Chief Mathews", Crawford was known with considerable embarrassment by the CHP as "Old 502" due to his habit of driving under the influence of alcohol ("Code 502" was the CHP police radio code for drunken driving). According to the show's creator, Guy Daniels, "We got all the dialogue in by noon, or else we wouldn't get it done at all. He [Crawford] would bribe people to bring him booze on the set." 

The show used their CHP technical advisor, Officer Frank Runyon, to keep the actor sober: "I was told to keep that son of a bitch away from a bottle. I think his license was suspended. Some scenes had to be shot on private roads so that he could drive." Eventually the drinking strained the show's relationship with the CHP as well as Crawford's relationship with ZIV." [the show's production company].

Is General Motors' Commitment to an EV Product Line in 2035 Sincere or "Smoke and Mirrors?"

 I was contacted by Steve Mufson of the Washington Post yesterday about GM's commitment to an EV product line in 2035, but then nothing came of it. So I did read his article this morning, and it was interesting given the number of interviews that Mufson did include in his article. GM is now going with the flow of Europe and Biden administration initiatives, and promises an extensive shift away from internal combustion engine vehicles over the next fifteen years. Is this a sound business strategy or a reflex to government pressure from California, the federal government, and European mandates? Is GM coming (or going) Clean? Or just for today, so to speak. Can a firm that has marketed ICE automobiles for over a 100. years actually make the shift to a new technology? Perhaps if it does not, then in the long run it will die. The world turns, but can GM?

For more than a century the internal combustion engine has reigned supreme in the global automotive industry. After a brief competition with steam and electric power at the begining the 20th century, the ICE was the dominant technology until about 2008. GM experimented with the EV-1 in the late 1990s, but it was clear that it had no intention to move forward then. Elon Musk came on the scene around 2008, and his Tesla firm has paved the way for EV in the US and China. One can think of Musk as the Henry Ford of the 21st century.

Will the EV revolution move forward now that we are seemingly listening to science about climate change? Has since and the pandemic paved the way for us to convincingly believe that the earth's warming is due to man-made activities? Are we willing to make the sacrifices to endure a rather costly and painful transition? Especially since once the Covid pandemic ends, we will find the perhaps we don't have the capital to make it happen. The US can't print money forever before there is a reckoning. 

For the post-boomer generation, the EV has a promise of new jobs for a generation of new engineers not tied to explosions in cylinders. Batteries should be much more efficient by 2030. 15 years will give us more time to develop a complete infrastructure. It is one thing to set up charging stations in urban areas, but to extend that net to rural America is another matter.

Will the rise in power of the Progressive Democratic Party continue long enough to see this EV revolution to completion? There are plenty of Americans in what we might want to call the "deplorable" classes who won't be a part of this new story. They will cling to ICE cars, even though gasoline will cost much more. They will remain in low-tech jobs not a part of the transition to a greener environment. Will they politically rise up as they did in 2016? Will then GM  pivot back to a more comfortable and familiar technological matrix? What are the limits to GM's subservience to government before it will exert its autonomy?

From Seat Belts to an Automotive Safety System

Seat belt: The restraint system was introduced at Mercedes-Benz in 1958. The first ever vehicle to feature seat belts was the 300 SL Roadster (W 198). Customers could order a two-point seat belt for the supersports car, just like the one the Mercedes-Benz Museum is showcasing as one of the “33 Extras”. The grey seat belt made by Autoflug clearly still shares plenty of characteristics with aircraft seat belts. (Photo signature in the Mercedes-Benz Classic archive: D587971

Mercedes-Benz tested the automatically engaging seat belt for the driver seat in the ESV 13 experimental safety vehicle. The vehicle was introduced at the third International ESV Conference between 30 May and 2 June 1972 in Washington (USA). (Photo signature in the Mercedes-Benz Classic archive: C7287)

With this test set-up, safety research staff at what was Daimler-Benz AG at the time investigated the ergonomics in 114 and 115 model series “Dash Eight” saloons (1968 to 1976) by testing how well the steering wheel and instrument panel could be operated with an engaged automatic three-point seat belt. Photo from 1973. (Photo signature in the Mercedes-Benz Classic archive: 73009-23)

One click to safety: Simply unreel it, pull it over your hips and upper body and fasten it in the buckle – putting on the seat belt before setting off has become a matter of course for vehicle drivers and passengers alike. Its function is as simple as it is effective: in the event of a collision, standard three-point seat belts secure the pelvis in the seat and restrain the upper body. Consequently, they fulfil a pivotal role within vehicles’ comprehensive passive safety systems. Accidents meant many severe injuries prior to the introduction of the seat belt because the inertia during a collision suddenly propels occupants towards the front or the sides, causing them to potentially hit parts of the vehicle’s interior or body – or simply be ejected from the vehicle. Seat belts significantly improved the situation.

Debut in 1950s supersports car: The seat belt was first introduced at what used to be Daimler-Benz AG in the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster (W 198). In March 1957 the company launched the open-top supersports car at the Geneva Motor Show and announced the seat belt, which would be optionally available that same year. Back in the day, this item of optional equipment cost DM 110 per seat. In 1957, the restraint system was described as a “belt to buckle up, aircraft design”: it was a two-point lap belt, which we are also familiar with from passenger aircraft. As part of the “33 Extras” series the Mercedes-Benz Museum is showcasing one such specimen made by northern German manufacturer Autoflug.

Pioneers from France: Early automotive inventors already pondered concepts centring on the seat belt. Frenchman Gustave-Désiré Leveau registered his “Bretelles protectrices pour voitures automobiles” as a patent on 11 May 1903, which was granted on 8 October that same year. The patent drawing illustrates complex four-point seat belts, which the driver as well as the passengers in the front and rear are wearing. The restraint system consisted of a lap belt and two criss-crossing shoulder belts each. The depiction of a rapidly moving vehicle in patent application number FR331926 reflects the enthusiasm for this new mode of transport prevailing in France at the time.

Learning from aircraft: Seat belts were developed in the first half of the 20th century, primarily for commercial and military aircraft. Swedish engineer Nils Ivar Bohlin registered the three-point seat belt for vehicles as a patent in 1958. He had also previously worked in the aircraft industry. The German Patent Office quoted the system’s benefits in the translation of Bohlin’s patent application, explaining that it “restrains both the upper and lower body in such a physiologically beneficial way and is easy to engage and disengage”.

Ample range: In 1958, Mercedes-Benz also introduced the two-point seat belt as optional equipment for the entire range of passenger cars with individual seats in the front. For instance, it was priced at DM 120 for a Mercedes-Benz 220 S (W 180 model series) and at DM 150 in the 300 d (W 189) (per seat in each case). By the end of the year lap belts in the rear seats were also optionally available. Konrad Adenauer, the first Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, was also convinced by the system. His official car was equipped with a lap belt in the rear. His last of a total of six Mercedes-Benz 300, known as “Adenauer Mercedes”, is on show at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in the Collection 4 exhibition space: Gallery of Celebrities.

Race and rally: From the 1950s onwards an increasing number of racing cars in motorsport were also fitted with a seat belt. Nowadays competitive vehicles mostly feature four- or six-point seat belts. These are supplemented by links to systems, such as HANS. This head-and-neck support reduces the dangerous acceleration of the head during a collision.

Three points and an automatic mechanism: In the 1960s the three-point seat belt finally became a standard feature in passenger cars. It combines the benefits of a lap belt and shoulder belt – just like Bohlin had described it in 1958. Equipped with a reeling mechanism, the restraint system becomes automatic. Mercedes-Benz introduced this particular version as standard equipment in front seats in 1973, and in 1979 it was also available as standard equipment in rear seats. It is not just the way the seat belt wraps around the body which is critical, but also how it is attached: Mercedes-Benz delivered the R 107 model series SL (introduced in 1971) with a seat belt anchored to the bottom of the seat as standard equipment.

Seat belts become mandatory: Accident research clearly demonstrates the effect of seat belts. For this reason, many countries made them mandatory for newly homologated vehicles. In the US, seat belts became mandatory as of 1966 and in West Germany this was the case from 1974. However, nowhere near all drivers and passengers actually buckled up. For this reason, wearing seat belts was made mandatory  – a decision that initially met with plenty of resistance. Within the German-speaking region, wearing a seat belt became mandatory in 1976 (West Germany and Austria), 1980 (GDR) and 1981 (Switzerland, following the suspension of the requirement to wear seat belts – in 1976 – as a result of protests and a referendum). Respective governments introduced corresponding fines to enforce the requirement to buckle up soon after: in 1981 (Switzerland), 1982 (GDR) and 1984 (West Germany and Austria). Fines for failing to wear a seat belt have been in force across the European Union since 2006.

Research in the interests of safety: Mercedes-Benz has been intensively researching passive safety and thus also restraint systems since the 1950s, e.g. as part of the experimental safety vehicle (ESV) programme. Automatically engaging seat belts for the front seats were trialled back in 1972 in the ESV 13 experimental safety vehicle. ESV 22, developed in 1973, served as a platform to test three-point seat belts featuring three seat belt force limiters and seat belt tensioners as well as the driver airbag. In 1981, the driver airbag in conjunction with a seat belt with a tensioner system celebrated its series-production launch in the 126 model series S-Class. ESV 22 is on show at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in the Legend 5 exhibition space: Visionaries – Safety and Environment.

System concept: Seat belt feeder, seat belt tensioner, airbag and belt airbag – further solutions supplement the system over the years. In this context, seat belts are considered the primary restraint system. For this reason, steering wheels equipped with airbags used to say “SRS”, an acronym for supplemental restraint system. And what if the seat belt and airbag become one? For instance, the belt airbag in the rear of the 222 model series S-Class was introduced in 2013: an inflatable seat belt which significantly increases the seat belt surface that is in contact with the upper body.

Is the Subaru CrossTrek the Modern Day Willys Station Wagon?

 

From Ed:

More about Subaru. It seems to me that the CrossTrek is the modern equivalent of the 1950s era Willys station wagon.  Many reviewers have noted that the CrossTrek is ideal for "retired people" and "senior citizens."   Look at this page from a Willys brochure where there are two columns the folks who are "ideal" for the Willys -- note in the second column it says "retired people."  Also included is the recommendation that the Willys is ideal for rural mail carriers.  Growing up, our rural mailman drove one and it was among the most popular vehicles chosen by rural carriers back then -- in fact there were no vehicles provided by the US post office to rural carriers -- they had to buy their own vehicle.

A World Class Automotive Museum: Mercedes-Benz in Stuttgart, Germany

Arguably the best automotive museum in the world, with a restaurant and classic car center to boot. The only German museum to rival it is the Audi Museum in Ingolstadt. Too often auto museums are nothing more than cars and placards  with no historical or human context.  The M-B Museum and Archives received the 2020 James J. Bradley Distinguished Service Award from SAH and is one of only two institutions to have received that award the second time.The M-B Museum does its best to take us back in time, and whet our appetite to learn more. Below is a 2020 report.

Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart. (Photo signature in the Mercedes-Benz archive: D157621)

The year 2020 started promisingly at first. Attendance was up by 14.3 per cent in January and February compared to the same period in 2019. “That was our initial assumption for the rest of 2020. Who could possibly have guessed that a dangerous virus would bring the entire world to a standstill – including our visitors and our Museum?” says Monja Büdke, Director of the Mercedes-Benz Museum.

But that’s exactly what happened. No fewer than 113,579 people had visited the Mercedes-Benz Museum from the start of last year until the first lockdown, which took effect on 14 March 2020, when the Museum closed. In retrospect, it is possible to say that almost half of the entire year’s visitors came during those eleven weeks. The Museum counted a total of 246,805 visitors for 2020 – a 71 per cent drop over the 2019 attendance figures of more than 850,000.

The Museum responded to developments flexibly by offering new formats

From 9 May 2020, the Museum opened again after eight weeks of closure with a comprehensive hygiene concept. At the time, opening was restricted to Friday to Sunday until the end of August. From 1 September until 1 November, it was then open the usual six days a week. The Mercedes-Benz Museum was visited from early summer to winter 2020 by people from the immediate region in particular – and many of them came more than once: “The number of regional visitors who came several times rose to over 25 per cent in 2020,” says Monja Büdke. During this period, the Museum provided a number of highlights: the special campaign in excessively hot weather with free admission on heatwave Sundays attracted many guests, as did the special “40 Years of the Mercedes-Benz G-Class” exhibition, which was on show until the end of September 2020.

Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart, “Cars & Coffee” on the open-air grounds. Photo taken in July 2020. 

The mascot presentation day on 3 October 2020 was particularly successful, with the Mercedes-Benz Museum’s new mascots, Carlotta and Carlchen, introducing themselves in an enthralling show. They then delighted the audience together with 20 other mascots from the region. The same weekend also saw the opening of the hands-on exhibition “Experience Creates Knowledge” developed by experimenta Heilbronn, which will be complementing and enriching the CAMPUS children’s and young people’s area with a further interactive offering for the next two years.

“Our business benefits very much from international tourism. Due to the restrictions on travel from Asia and North America, for example, our visitor mix changed considerably last year,” says Museum Director Monja Büdke. The proportion of guests visiting us from China, for example, was less than 0.5 per cent from May to November 2020. By comparison, in 2019, tourists from China accounted for more than 10 per cent of our Museum visitors. Most of the international guests in 2020 came from neighbouring European countries, in particular France, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland and Switzerland.

Cars & Coffee classic meet for all brands of car proves to be a winning formula

The popular open-brand classic car meet, Cars & Coffee, on Museum Hill once again proved to be an attractive open-air programme – with adherence to social distancing rules – in corona year 2020. Starting from the already high visitor levels of previous years, the number of participants grew still further last year. On particularly busy Sundays, as many as 600 classic vehicles gathered on the mound. As a result, the Museum expanded its offerings to include additional “after-work” dates on Thursday evenings.

However, many popular events such as the Mercedes-Benz Summer Concerts, the open-air cinema and concerts planned in cooperation with the Stuttgart State Opera had to be cancelled last year. “Wherever possible, we responded flexibly to developments and the corresponding challenges with new formats,” explains the Museum Director in retrospect. For example, the Museum participated in the BW-Bank Kulturwasen event with a drive-in cinema and a concert by “Gentleman”. Together with the Stuttgart State Opera, exclusive musical experiences such as the “1:1 Concerts” and promenade concerts were held at the Museum in June and July, as well as a truck concert on the open space in front of the Museum.

Online focal points, important experiences and plans for 2021

“The Mercedes-Benz Museum – like many other institutions – made the best of a difficult situation last year for its guests,” summarises Monja Büdke. Key activities in this context were alternative event concepts and, in particular, a boost in virtual, i.e. online, content. There were new concepts here last year, including a film taken from a drone with spectacular flights through the exhibition (http://mb4.me/exclusive-insights), interactive tours with Museum guides (e.g. http://mb4.me/MuseumTour) and the social media series “Exclusive Insights: The Cars of the Mercedes-Benz Museum” on Instagram TV (http://mb4.me/exclusive-insights).

“The many positive responses to the new offerings were encouraging, and so coronavirus year 2020 had many an uplifting surprise in store for us,” says Monja Büdke. As a result, the Mercedes-Benz Museum has embarked on the year 2021 with new ideas and a positive outlook. There is a special exhibition “future of mobility” with concepts and practical solutions for mobility technologies and services. Also on display: “Seven at a Stroke” with the original racing cars to mark the seventh consecutive Formula One World Championship double with seven driver and constructors’ titles in a row. As soon as the Museum reopens, both presentations will be accessible – free of charge for visitors.

The Mercedes-Benz Museum is currently closed as a precautionary measure to help stop the spread of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2: www.mercedes-benz.com/museum.

Cloris Leachman's First Film Role: Running Naked, Then Taking a Ride in a Jaguar XK-120, in "Kiss Me Deadly"

 So sorry to hear of the death of Cloris Leachman. She was beautiful in the 1955 film "Kiss Me Deadly." I have previously commented on the automobiles featured in that film, and in particular a Jaguar XK-120 and 1954 Corvette.

The film begins with Cloris' character(Christina Bailey) running naked down a country road after escaping from a psychiatric hospital. Picked up by detective Mike Hammer (played by Ralph Meeker), then murdered with Hammer left battered and the Jaguar wrecked, she provides a haunting clue with the utterance "remember me."

We will remember you, Cloris Leachman, for an acting career well done and a life well-lived!

A Correction on the Child Car Seats Post!!

 Hi folks --

 a previous article on the history of child car seats asserted that there has nothing been written on the topic. WRONG! Dan Strohl published a very interesting and well researched piece in 2019. Dan continues to do excellent work for Hemmings, and this essay is no different. See: https://www.hemmings.com/stories/2019/10/02/child-safety-seat-dangerous-history-bad-ideas

A brief history of children's car seats...and a personal story

From Ed!!!

Not sure that a history of child car seats has ever been written, lots of bits and pieces but nothing that brings the development of child car seats together in a cohesive fashion and situates that evolution into the larger context of the evolution of safety.

There were a few companies that offered child car seats in the 1930s (mostly bags that you put your kid in behind the front seat) but this photo is of one of the first relatively effective (not really) seats sold in the early 1940s.  It was apparently made of aluminum and had sort of a shelf that pulled out for the child's feet.  It was somewhat adjustable (up to a point).  But note there was no head restraint and today's practice is for child safety seats to position the child backwards rather than forward-facing.   The "theory" back then was that the child should be high enough on the seat that he or she could see out from the windshield.  But we now know that the best placement of a child safety seat is in the back seat, preferably in the middle.

A personal story: When we lived in Tennessee years ago we often traveled from Cookeville (where I was with Tennessee Tech University) to Nashville for shopping.  This is Interstate 40 and about an hour long trip.  One time we were on the way to Nashville and our son was in his car seat in the back.  Unfortunately, he had the habit of unbuckling himself and climbing out -- all the time.   We couldn't keep him in the child seat.  In this instance he had climbed out and was clambering around the rear window package shelf.  We were pulled over by a Tennessee Highway Trooper and I was asked to leave our car and sit in the passenger seat beside the State Trooper.  He then told me that "you'd better keep your kid in his car seat and so let me tell you a little story."  He then proceeded to tell me that only a week earlier he had been called to the scene of a horrible accident where he watched an emergency crew "scrape" (his word) an infant off of the windshield.  He went into detail: The mother screaming, the blood everywhere.  My response: "Officer, I get your point.  We will strap our kid into his car seat with duct tape if we have to.  Your point is made.  May I go?"  His reply: "No, sit here and let me tell you another story."  He then told me about another  tragic accident he was called to a year earlier where two children were killed and both were not in car seats.  Again he went into detail: The blood, the screams.  "Officer, may I go now......I promise our kid will be strapped in......duct tape, whatever it takes."  The trooper let me go with a warning.  But he held. me in his patrol car for at least 15 minutes.

In Tennessee, at the time, if a car carrying a young child without a car seat was pulled over, the driver was given a citation.  But if the driver would purchase a child car seat and then bring the receipt for purchase to a State Highway Patrol station, then there would be no fine and the violation was forgiven.

One wonders how many young lives have been saved through the use of well-designed child car seats?

Unusual 1961 DeSoto two door coupe seating

 From Ed --Among the few odd seating arrangements in cars, perhaps the 1961 DeSoto two door coupe tops the list.  The driver got this "high top" seat (prior to required headrests) while the two front passengers shared a love seat.  And the driver's seat was inset with a different color vinyl.  One assumes that both parts folded down to ease entrance into the back seat, but who knows?

Of course this was the period when Chrysler Corp was experimenting with different shapes for steering wheels!

The Great Race Driver Rudi Caracciola

Rudolf Caracciola (1901 – 1959), one of the most successful Mercedes-Benz Silver Arrow drivers of the 1930s. (Photo signature in the Mercedes-Benz Classic archive: 21200)

Time and again, great racing drivers dominate entire eras with their sporting success. For instance Rudolf Caracciola: the Mercedes-Benz works driver was the star of the first Silver Arrow era in the 1930s. He was crowned European Grand Prix Champion in 1935, 1937 and 1938, a title that – in terms of sporting prestige – is comparable to the Formula 1 World Championship, which was established in 1950. Rudolf Caracciola was born in the German town of Remagen 120 years ago, on 30 January 1901. Plenty of success, but also the odd tragedy characterised the life of the sports celebrity, who died on September 1959 in Kassel, Germany, at the age of only 58.

Live your dream: On 15 November 2020, after Lewis Hamilton had claimed his seventh World Championship title and victory at the Turkish Grand Prix, he said the following in the first interview after having crossed the finish line: “Dream the impossible, speak it into existence and never give up!” Rudolf Caracciola used very similar words in his biography entitled “Meine Welt” (“My World”), published in 1958: “I believe that any human being can achieve what they want to achieve. I had wanted to become a racing driver ever since I was fourteen.”

Champion of all categories: Nowadays Grand Prix drivers are specialists who fully focus on Formula 1 races. However, this had been very different up until well into the 1970s. Star drivers’ schedules included Formula 1, Formula 2, sports car and touring car races, hill-climbing competitions and even rallies. Rudolf Caracciola, whose career spanned several automotive and racing car eras, demonstrated a vast bandwidth of driving skills. His initial success in the 1920s drew the attention of what was Daimler-Benz AG at the time. He signed a works driver contract and was provided with vehicles from the famous S series. For instance, in 1929, he won the International Tourist Trophy on the Isle of Man, covering 660 kilometres at the wheel of the Mercedes-Benz Type SS. At hill-climbing races he claimed three consecutive European Hill Climb Championships: in 1930 and 1931 in a Mercedes-Benz (SSK and SSKL) and in 1932 at the wheel of an Alfa Romeo (2.6-litre Monoposto). Driving a Type SSKL in 1931, he was the first non-Italian racing driver to claim the Mille Miglia title. Numerous victories in very powerful Mercedes-Benz and Alfa Romeo Grand Prix racing cars followed. However, he could go a lot faster: on 28 January 1938, Caracciola’s Mercedes-Benz record-breaking car was clocked at 432.69 km/h while racing along the flying kilometre stretch of the Frankfurt–Heidelberg motorway. It took 79 years until, on 4 November 2017, a Koenigsegg Agera RS broke this absolute speed record set on public roads on a public road in Nevada/USA.

Master of rain: On 11 July 1926, recently established Daimler-Benz AG provided Caracciola with a Mercedes 2-litre 8-cylinder racing car featuring a compressor for the first German Grand Prix at Berlin’s Avus race track. He was the last to start in a field of 38 competitors, watched by a crowd of 230,000 spectators. During the race it started to rain heavily. However, Caracciola overtook all his competitors, earning him the reputation of being the “master of rain”. It marked his breakthrough to becoming one of the greatest racing drivers.

Silver Arrows: In 1934, the first ever Silver Arrow was designated as the Mercedes-Benz W 25. It had been designed on the basis of the 750-kilogram formula. It initially generated an output of 260 kW (354 hp), which was subsequently increased to up to 363 kW (494 hp). Reaching top speeds of around 300 km/h, back in the day it almost matched the driving performance of the 2020 Mercedes-AMG F1 W11 EQ Performance. The W 25 was a synonym for high tech back then. For instance, until the 1950s, it would be considered completely normal for drivers to not be wearing a seat belt or helmet. Besides this, the steering and braking forces to be generated were significant and drivers had no electronic support or radio link to the pit lane.

In the lead: In its first season the W 25 was quite successful – claiming two victories at “Grandes Épreuves”, amongst others. 1935 was the year of Caracciola and the evolved W 25 as he claimed a convincing victory at the European Grand Prix Championship. In 1937, the brand competed with the new W 125 and Caracciola once again dominated the Grand Prix season. The next racing car formula came into force in 1938. Mercedes-Benz competed with the W 154. At the end of the year, Caracciola had once again been crowned European Champion. Reflecting on the past, team colleague Manfred von Brauchitsch said about the champion’s driving style: “Rudolf is probably the greatest of all time because he managed to drive as if on railway tracks. He was a fully fledged, down-to-earth driver who was as cold as ice and clever.”

Accident with consequences: Flashback to the era of the global economic crisis around 1930. Major manufacturers withdrew from motorsport. For this reason, Rudolf Caracciola and his friend and fellow racing driver Louis Chiron established the privately owned Scuderia CC racing team in 1933 to be able to continue racing. On 23 April 1933, during a training run for the Monaco Grand Prix, Caracciola lost control of his Alfa Romeo and laterally crashed into some stone steps. Caracciola’s hip was shattered. He spent many months in hospital and his right leg would forever be five centimetres shorter than his left. From that point onwards, he suffered from constant physical pain. Alfred Neubauer, Mercedes-Benz race director for many years, said years later: “It’s what makes Caracciola valiant and gives him an air of being more than human, considering he claimed his greatest victories between 1934 and 1939 with such a physical disability.”

Rival: In 1939 Caracciola was paired up with a team mate showing equal abilities. Former racing mechanic Hermann Lang was not just very fast, but – in Caracciola’s opinion at least – he was also significantly prioritised in terms of technology and tactics. Caracciola addressed the board of management in a long letter, voicing unfair conditions and demanding he should be provided with “the same weapons” as his team mate. However, he never made his threat of retiring a reality. On 23 July 1939, and thus only a few weeks ahead of the outbreak of the Second World War, Caracciola returned to the road to victory, winning the German Grand Prix for the sixth time after 1926, 1928, 1931, 1932 and 1937.

Personal life: Caracciola married his friend Charlotte from Berlin – known as Charly – in 1926 when his career was still unfolding. He wrote in his biography: “The life I shared with Charly […] was subject to the harsh conditions of my profession. She helped me train, she checked my times and my competitors’ times and guaranteed necessary relaxation periods after those tough months during the racing season.” In winter 1933/1934, he convinced his wife, a passionate skier, to join a skiing trip. Charly Caracciola never returned after an avalanche claimed her life. The quiet and shy racing driver withdrew into his shell. Louis Chiron and his partner Alice Hoffmann-Trobeck looked after him. She and Caracciola discovered their affection for each other and married on 19 June 1937. The worldly and independent woman later said that she felt at ease around Rudi, something which she had been missing with the charming Monegasque Chiron.

After the war: Rudolf Caracciola spent the majority of the six years of the Second World War at his villa in Lugano-Ruvigliana, overlooking Lake Lugano. Mercedes-Benz was unable to comply with the already agreed upon racing contract. However, he was granted a salary in the form of a “revocable allowance” totalling what former directors received. There was little for him to do. He could work in the garden and go cycling, but his leg injury prevented him from going hiking. He did not return to Mercedes-Benz until 1952. He played his part in bringing the Monte Carlo Rally team title to Stuttgart with a Type 220 (W 187) Saloon. At the Mille Miglia at the beginning of 1952, the team consisting of Rudolf Caracciola and Paul Kurrle finished in fourth position in the new 300 SL (W 194) racing car.

Last race: On 18 May 1952, 30 years after his first race in 1922 at Berlin’s Avus race track and 28 years after his initial victories at the wheel of a Mercedes-Benz, Rudolf Caracciola lined up on the starting grid at the Swiss Grand Prix in Bern one last time. In the thirteenth lap around Bremgarten Circuit, the left rear wheel of his 300 SL locked up, causing the driver to lose control and collide head-on with a tree. Caracciola suffered major injuries to his – until then – undamaged left leg and the accident also left him with a fractured kneecap. Once again he faced several months in hospital. At the time Caracciola was 51 and it became clear to him that he would never compete in a motorsport event again.

Farewell: After the end of his career Rudolf Caracciola remained closely affiliated to “his” Mercedes-Benz brand. He attended many events as a highly respected Brand Ambassador. However, he was admitted to hospital in September 1959, where doctors diagnosed advanced liver disease. After a few days in a coma, Rudolf Caracciola died on 28 September 1959 in Kassel, Germany. Race director Alfred Neubauer said about him: “He merged an extraordinary level of reliability, concentration, physical endurance and intelligence. [...] I would say Fangio is the only one in the ‘absolute world class’ category together with Caracciola. [...] Caracciola’s numerous victories at Grand Prix races, endurance races, hill-climbing sprints and records make him the undisputed champion”. On 14 July 1969, around ten years after having said goodbye to this great racing driver, Alice Caracciola wrote the following to a long-standing pen friend: “Rudi will remain unforgotten for a long time – a silver lining in racing drivers’ skies.”

Looking Back: World Rally Champion Christian Geistdorfer

Victories with Walter Röhrl

Key word: “history”. Between 1980 and 1984, Walter Röhrl – the race and rally legend for whom Geistdörfer was co-driver – won the Monte Carlo Rally four times, in four different cars; on snow, gravel and asphalt in alternation. Not only because of Röhrl’s inimitable ideal line, but also thanks to their meticulous preparation, the two defeated more powerful rivals, time and again . They were a well-rehearsed team and entrusted each other with their lives. The first Monte victory in 1980 was one of the best experiences of both of their careers.

More than 40 years later things are quieter around Geistdörfer. Well at least you might think so. In 2016 he published his biography 'Walter und ich' [Walter and I]. He doesn't have to prove anything to anyone today. Born in Munich, he seems to be more thoughtful now. Gone are the wild parties where dishes were smashed and chairs thrown around. He has kept his carefree smile, whether he is sitting at the wheel listening to the surging noise of the engine at more than 4,000 rpm – or greeting his buddy Carlo Marcati.

Christian Geistdörfer visiting his buddy Carlo Marcati at the Michelsburg in St. Lorenzen-Moos. Built in the late 11th century, it is one of the oldest castles in the historic Tyrol region. 

On the last few metres to Michelsburg, the sound of the G Model flattens out a little, walking pace, too much gravel leads the way to this historic building, whose history dates back to the year 995. The year the entire complex was built is given as 1091. Carlo, born and raised in Bruneck, dreamed of living in this castle for a long time. In 1990 he made his move and bought the ruin in western Pustertal, which had been left to decay, and had it reconstructed for 20 years according to strict monument protection regulations. The property manager and former beverage wholesaler lives up there in 1,800 square metres with his cat Luna and a pair of falcons.

Christian Geistdörfer and Carlo Marcati met about 44 years ago at the Hahnenkamm race in Kitzbühel. For seven years, Geistdörfer coordinated the sponsorship activities of the Warsteiner brewery and, as a result, came to Formula One many years ago. There and later in DTM the two worked together time and again. In winter they meet in Kitzbühel, every year. In 2018 Geistdörfer fell so badly while skiing that he slipped 150 metres down the slope, unconscious, demolishing his back and literally burning his face on the snow.

More than 40 years after the first Monte victory things have become quieter around Christian Geistdörfer. Two years ago he published his biography “Walter und ich” [Walter and I]. He doesn't have to prove anything to anyone today. 

Externally, only a fist-sized spot on his right cheek reminds us of his lucky escape. “I’ve had two accidents so far, in which my life was played out in black and white pictures in front of me," he says. "Both times I saw childhood memories that I had long forgotten. In the skiing accident I was lucky to have been unconscious, so a review of my life didn’t have to pass before me."

A life with three sections

Geistdörfer divides his life into three sections: the world rally champion, the entrepreneur, the person – in that order. As he wrote in his biography about the world rally champion, his second life as an entrepreneur was already well-planned during his time as a co-driver, among other things with the establishment of an event agency.

Christian Geistdörfer is a private person who lives in Malta and Munich, but can still be found at all kinds of car events. If he had to beam himself back to a decade, he would immediately set the time machine for the 1980s. “Back then everything was slower," he says. "Today we read e-mails when we are travelling, are constantly on our smartphones, always available. In the 1980s, the music was great, life was slower and somehow more worth living,” he sums up, without seeming like an everything-was-better-then cynic.

Maybe that’s exactly why he enjoys getting into his 911 in Munich and driving so much, to visit old friends who live in a castle and to visit friends who don’t live in a castle. Around the corner, beyond national borders, just driving, slow and fast in alternation, alone or in pairs, no music, only the Zuffenhausen sound of the 1980s. The way into the future could then read like this in Geistdörfer’s prayer book: straight ahead full, turn around from time to time, remember the beautiful things and then full straight ahead again, here and there beautiful curves

Heron Gray Porsche 356

Friend Gary emailed me earlier today saying he will change the color of his 356 to Heron Gray. I wondered what that looked like so I googled the 356 with that color. This is what I came up with.  I can see why he likes this very pleasant color. Not quite white, with a subtle darker shade thrown in.

 

Automobiles Crossing the Wheeling Suspension Bridge, 1920s

The equilibrium exhibited by the suspension bridge design results in one of the most beautiful sights in the built environment. Suspension bridges in America first came to be in the 1840s, the work of Charles Ellet and John Roebling. The bridge across the Ohio at Wheeling was first erected the 1840s, and the photo below dates from the 1920s. A personal story -- every year beginning around a decade ago Ed and I drove to Hershey, PA, in early October. We always stopped in Wheeling on the way back, and once had lunch at the Bridge restaurant a short throw from the scene shown in the photo below. The gritty eatery proved to be most unfriendly. It was a disappointment, and unless new management is in place, I would not recommend it.